Racial Targeting and Profiling in the United States Essay

Racial Targeting and Profiling in the United States The practice of targeting individuals for police investigation based on their race alone in the last few years has been an increasingly prominent issue in American society. Numerous magazines, newspapers, and journals have explored the issue of race-motivated police actions. Recently, the ABA Journal did a study of New Jersey and Pennsylvania traffic stops from 1998 to 2001, concluding that black drivers were more likely to be pulled over and arrested than whites. The study also delves into the legal ramifications of the 1996 United States Supreme Court ruling in the Whren v. United States case, which held that police officers subjective motivation for stopping a motorist on the†¦show more content†¦There are many different perspectives that people are taking toward the idea of race-motivated police traffic stops. The frequency of traffic stops among college students and whether or not race is a cause in such traffic stops has many other factors that that need to be taken in to consideration, such as gender, age, vehicle, location, and attire. The issue of racial profiling in America is one of great importance to the future of American society. This issue is not new to our society; racism and stereotyping are issues that date back to many years ago. Racial profiling in America is on that needs to be addressed by the government and society if we ever want America to truly be, The Land of The Free. One of the main examples of racial profiling is called DWB (Driving While Black). This is a term starting to show itself a lot in cases of racial profiling. This name is meant to be a shot at he already known DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). In today?fs society, the perception is that most drug traffickers are minorities. This is very untrue. Racial profiling is based on the premise that minorities commit most drug offenses. Because police look for drugs primarily among African Americans and Latinos, they find an uneven number of them actually in possession of contraband. Therefore, these people are arrested, reinforcing the idea that drug trafficking is primarily a Latino or African American thing. At the same time, white drivers receive far less police attention;Show MoreRelated An Argument Against Racial Profiling Essay1129 Words   |  5 PagesI dont want to talk about whether or not racial profiling is legal. Racial profiling is not an effective law enforcement tool. -- Eric Ho lder, 82nd Attorney General of the United States Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. 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